OK, so I’ve remembered some stuff from the cruise you might be interested in; namely our purchases. Firstly, I treated myself to a Disney Dooney and Bourke messenger style handbag. It was the Dream’s inaugural voyage collection and had 40% off. We also bought some Cruise edition Vinylmations. There is a whole set of 12 or more but we just got 2: one of Captain Mickey and one of the ships livery. We considered the Chinese zodiac ones but decided against it. We are not about to become avid collectors but may get a few pertinent and meaningful ones as we go along.
So, back to journal (it’s Thursday am remember?). The 528 was quiet despite in being rush hour and we made really good time. Since it was early enough when we got back to the Orlando area we stopped at the World’s Biggest McDonalds for breakfast. Our plan was to go to the Premium Outlets (Previously Prime) at the top of I-Drive and got there by 9:45. Stores opened at 10am so we walked to the far end to kill some time. We bought some candles from the Yankee outlet and Paul tried to get some replacement foam pads for his earphones from Bose. The store didn’t have any but confirmed they do sell them so he can try elsewhere or online. We looked in Juicy and Neiman Marcus Last Call but there were no more purchases. The shops were really quiet. Not sure if that was because it was early or merely the time of year. Either way it was nice.
After the shops we went over to Saratoga Springs. It was a really hot again and a glorious day. We collected our membership cards, helped ourselves to a cookie and went to take a look at the model units. First we looked at the Aulani villas, the new unit in Hawaii now selling as DVC villas. Then we looked at the Animal Kingdom villas. Both were stunning. Fab décor, great amenities, huge whirlpool tubs, really comfortable and very inviting. We definitely think we will use some of our points for a stay in May.
We left Saratoga Springs and made our way to Downtown Disney, Westside. First stop was the silver shop where I managed to get a really nice amethyst ring. A little pricey but a really nice piece; very simple solitaire bezel set oval stone in silver. After this we wandered past the candy store, briefly stopping to watch the cast member making chocolate covered pretzel sticks, and into the store that sells Vinylmation. We looked at some awesome special editions, hand painted large pieces for $1,200 as well as some weird sets, like a sushi set! We did buy our zodiac editions; they were better than the Chinese zodiac ones so not getting those was a good decision!
It was now about 2pm so we decided to make our way to Bahama Bay to check in. After unpacking we headed over to the clubhouse to get some lunch. Since we had planned dinner at Longhorn we didn’t want too much so shared a portion of cheesy bacon fries. It was still a pretty big portion but they were yummy. We checked our email, having been at sea for 4 days before making our way back to our own verandah where I wrote yesterday’s blog entry.
After hours of typing we got ready and went to Longhorn. It was quite busy so we had a 20-minute wait. Thankfully this time they didn’t forget us and we sat down to eat around 6:30pm. We had our usual Flo’s Fillet and Paul tried the new bourbon glaze that was advertised. It was way more oniony than the TGI Jack Daniel’s glaze but he said it was OK. After dinner we went over to Target to get a few groceries then came home and watched an episode of Hawaii-5-O with a nice cup of tea.
Friday morning saw a bit of a lie-in but we were up and about for about 10am. We had considered going east to a mall called Waterford Lakes as it had a Bose store for Paul to look for his earphone pads but since I still had so much blog to write we decided to sit outside and chillax. It was a much cooler day and very cloudy but warm enough to be outside as our verandah is nicely sheltered. We eventually went out about lunchtime after posting the cruise blog. Our first stop was the Center State bank (on 27 by the Polo park). We wanted to open a checking account since it was recommended for offering free banking without a minimum balance. The bank requires you to own property in Florida and since our DVC membership comprises a formal ownership deed this allowed us to open an account. The process took about half an hour and we still have to email over the formal deed once we have paid up with DVC and receive the paperwork but we have 90 days to do this. Once we got out of the bank we went over to Animal Kingdom (our new home ?). Showing our membership card gets us in so easily with a great welcome and greeting. We firstly went to Jambo House, the original Lodge. We looked around the shop, which is really big and bought a couple of cushions that say “once upon a time, happy ever after” and “never grow up”. We then went out back to the viewing outlook but other than birds nothing was really near. We saw some Zebra and Wildebeest in the distance and Paul got some pics. There were 2 viewing areas with one being behind the pool area. This had some nice hot tubs and secluded seating areas. We then went over to Kidani Village and got a cup of tea each to drink as we sat in the rocking chairs at the overlook area. The Giraffes were around and there does seem to be better viewing from Kidani. We took a look in the shop on the way out and Paul bought a DVC members only pin whilst I bought a pink DVC members t-shirt with Tinkerbell embroidered on it. Sadly, this has turned out to be a little big so I need to try and swap it tomorrow. I also got some African made stone animals; a Hippo and a Rhino, which will go really nicely with my wooden Giraffe and Elephant back home.
We stayed at AK until about 5pm before heading over to Kobe for dinner. We shared a meal again but as well as the shrimp and fillet had some teriyaki chicken. The food was as good as ever and our chef had some new tricks like ‘lava from the volcano’ which was the sauce spitting our of the onion volcano. We didn’t really talk to our tablemates again which consisted of a family of mum, dad, 2 kids and grand parents then one other couple.
We finished at Kobe around 6:30 and after a stop for gas went over to the Polynesian to watch the Wishes fireworks from the beach. It was cool but not too cold and we perched on sun beds. The film on the beach was “Tangled” and there was a dad with his 2 kids next to us who was struggling to get them to sit and wait for the fireworks as all they wanted was to go and watch Rapunzel! We saw, and heard, a couple of Pirate firework cruise boats out on the lake. Wishes was good and half way through I swear I saw an Alligator swimming past in the lake. Paul saw something too but thought that folks swam in the lake. After the fireworks we checked the signs which do say ‘no swimming’ so I am still convinced it was a gator.
We came straight back after the fireworks and after a welcome cuppa we did most of our packing. We had bought out 3 suitcases (one inside another on the way out) so have plenty of space and should be able to even out the weight.
It is now nearly midnight. Paul is in the tub whilst I finish up this last blog update before we head back to Blighty tomorrow ? ?
Well hello again, it’s been a while. We are now back on dry land (suffering with sea legs a tad) and sitting out the back of our Bahama Bay apartment. Good news is the bed is bigger in the deluxe. It is peaceful again and very sunny as I type at just after 4pm. I think I must have about 3 days to catch up on so this could take a while. You might want to put the kettle on, treat yourself to a biscuit as well and settle in…
…so, some pertinent updates for you to begin with. Firstly, the Vinylmation Mickey came back all signed and is AWESOME. They have made such a good job of it we were both in wonder. It will be displayed well away from Norah as it is (to quote a famous credit card ad) priceless! Secondly, the cruise itself was also awesome. Probably the best Cruise we have done. Definitely not too overbearing on the Disney although it was busy with 4000 passengers. The time flew and we didn’t even get to do everything we wanted but have vowed we will definitely do it again. Very probably we will book in Jan next year and try to get the same deal we did this time. Finally, before I go back to Monday afternoon, we are now members of the Disney Vacation Club. We have pondered if for some time but there was an on board offer so we took the plunge and signed up. I’ll not go into the details of how it all works and what that means in this blog.
So, where did I leave you? Monday lunchtime I believe as we were getting off the boat to take a wander around Nassau. It was a pleasant day, a little cloudy but warm enough and no sign of the forecasted rain. We looked in a few shops and in ‘Diamonds International’ I tried on a canary yellow diamond ring, which was a snip at $600,000!! I also was interested in some Amolite pieces but the prices were not even comparable to what I can buy from jewellery channels on TV, and it’s the same branded stone. We tried to barter and get a deal but the shops didn’t seem to want our business. Maybe they get enough sales from all the tourists but they seemed happy to let us walk away. I also looked at the Larimar (the stone of the Caribbean) but that too was way more then back home. So, after a couple of hours we got back on board with our dollars in our pocket. On board we went up to deck 11 to get a hot dog and fries and a drink. We sat in the quiet cove (which is mis sold as a live guitarist ruins the peace) before heading back to our room to watch the Princess and the Frog.
Dinner was at the Enchanted Garden restaurant which we were told was based on the gardens of Versailles although it was a tad tacky for our liking. The food was ok and after appetizers of soup and salad I had the roast chicken with sweet potatoes and Paul had prime rib. There was no entertainment in this restaurant and the evening was slightly marred by the entire table (10 of them) of children behind us that were very boisterous and loud. Our fellow table guests were not best pleased either.
After dinner we went to the theatre for the evening’s show that was “Villains Tonight”. It was a stage production with Hades (the ruler of the underworld from the film Hercules) trying to ensure he was still evil enough (having been defeated by Hercules) by enlisting the help of his friends such as Ursula,The Evil Queen, Maleficent, Jafar and Scar. It was not as good as the first night’s show but still good. Afterwards we went back into Pink and had a champagne cocktail then watched a family Disney quiz show before bed.
Tuesday began as all cruise days with breakfast being delivered to our room and consumed on our balcony. We were docked at Castaway Cay (pronounced ‘key’ by Disney for some reason) which is their private Island. It has clearly been well “designed” and was quite idyllic. We got off the boat about mid morning and wandered along the pathways to the beach areas taking photos. At lunchtime we stopped for the on-shore BBQ food which was really good. The weather was amazing, so amazing that I have burned arms to show for it. There were plenty of activities for families to do including lots of the usual water sports as well as bike rides and a water slide called Pelican Plunge.
There were bars and shops as well so we each bought a souvenir t-shirt and had an official photo taken as a memento. We walked all the way down to Serenity Bay, which is the adults’ only beach. We had a paddle in the turquoise blue ocean and then sat in beach chairs with our feet in the sea as the waves lapped. To be absolutely honest, the water was freezing but the scene was certainly paradise. We had decided to get back to the boat for about 2:30 for a ship tour so got the tram all the way back to the boat. We were cutting it fine time wise and then struggled to find the bar the tour start from so ended up missing it. Instead we went to a presentation on the making of the Disney Dream (our boat). I’d got myself a frozen Piña Colada with lashings of rum to sip on so was happy enough 🙂 After this we stayed in the same lounge to here the DVC presentation and as you have already read, they did a good sales job on us! We left there having made an appointment for 9:30pm and went back to our room to get ready for dinner.
Tonight’s dinner was Pirates night and we were in the Royal Palace restaurant. The restaurant was really nice with particularly cute Cinderella Coach breadbaskets. The menu was Mickey and Pirate themed with a Caribbean flavour. I had a Pineapple appetizer whilst Paul opted for the pork dumplings. I then had a jerk chicken salad before a main course of sirloin steak. Paul went for the shrimp and scallop linguini, asking Sean (our server) to de-shell his shrimp. Deserts were rum soaked sponge, yummy. In our cabin we had each been given a bandana and some families had really gone to town with the dressing up. After dinner we went to the theatre, we were late out so had no time for a pre dinner drink. The show was Ronn Lucas, the ventriloquist we had seen on the first night. His main show did not differ much sadly so we saw a lot of the same. He was funny though and is definitely very talented. After he finished we darted to our DVC meeting and were “sold to” by Rob, a very typical American salesman from NJ whose wife was called Cindy. We asked all our questions and got our info but did not want to sign there and the as we still wanted to think about it and work some numbers. He really wanted the sale but we said we may well be back. We were with him an hour which meant we had to run up to deck 11 afterwards as this was fireworks night. DCL is the only ship allowed to set off fireworks at sea from on board. They are called Buccaneer Blast:-
They were excellent, obviously smaller scale as they we set of from the ships funnels, but still excellent. Afterwards there was a show on the deck stage with Captain Jack Sparrow and various Pirate dancers. It was really mild out on deck with no wind and plenty warm enough with just a light cardie. Once the show was over we headed for bed. There was a 3D showing of the 4th Pirates movie in the cinema that we considered but tiredness over ruled.
Wednesday was our sea day so we had a little more of a lie in before breakfast was delivered at about 9:30. Having looked at our planner (called the Personal Navigator as opposed to RC’s Cruise Compass) there was a lot we wanted to do including the ship tour we had missed the day before and various quizzes. Before all of this however, and having done some sums, we called up Rob and made an 11:15 appointment to give him the good news. We couldn’t sign up there and then as paperwork needed t be drawn up but we paid or closing costs and agreed to come back and sign at 2:30pm. We left with a few freebies such as baseball caps, a bag and a really nice wooden box. We grabbed some lunch before we met for the ship tour at 1pm. It was hosted by Lauren; a Brit from Basingstoke. She was new to it (this only being her second tour) but was very good. Her grammar was a little lacking in places (lots of ‘them features’ and ‘them characters’ with seemingly no knowledge the word ‘those’ even existed) but she was enthusiastic and friendly. We learned all sorts of facts from this and the previous days presentation including:
(OK, I’ll be honest, I had to stop here and go for dinner and being really tired after an early start I couldn’t do anymore before bed. So, it’s now Friday morning but I have made a commitment to finish this!)
The ships colour scheme of black, yellow, white and red are the colours of Mickey Mouse
Painting the hull of the ship pure black was a little too imposing so Disney wanted a very dark navy blue. After searching unsuccessfully a meeting was called with several top Disney bigwigs and one of them was a lady in navy trousers; the exact colour they wanted, so they took her trousers and had paint made the same colour. They then named it Monica blue in her honour!
Disney had to get special permission from the Coast Guard to have yellow lifeboats instead of fluorescent orange as was the law. They had to prove their colour was just as noticeable but eventually were granted permission.
Magic and Wonder hold 2000 passengers, the Dream and Fantasy hold 4000
The Magic and Wonder only have “When You Wish Upon A Star” as their horn sound but the Dream has several. On You Tube you can find a video of the ‘battle of the horns’ when The Magic and Dream met each other at Castaway Cay. We’ve watched it and it is so cool.
The tour took us into Remy, one of the restaurants you can pay to eat in. It is $75 a head and French themed. It is based on the film Ratatouille and has a glass model of Remy worth over $45,000 as well as a private dining room that looks exactly like the one in the film. It also has little stools at each table for a lady to put her handbag on so it never has to touch the floor. We also looked at the Bar areas. We had already seen Pink, the champagne bar, but there are about 3 or 4 other bars one of which is called the Skyline. The views from this bar are all LCD screens showing an evening view of a major city. The view looks lifelike with moving cars, flashing lights and waves on the water. Every 15 minutes pixie dust covers the screens and they change to another city. There are about 4 in all so guests can drink for an hour or so and get to see all revolutions. I told you earlier this cruise was neat and way more than just Mickey and his friends. Some if the features and technology are really clever and that’s the Disney we love.
The tour took about an hour and finished in the grand atrium where there is a bronze statue of Admiral Donald. Each ship has a statue: the Magic has Captain Mickey, the Wonder has Ariel and the new Fantasy will have Mademoiselle Minnie. Apparently she has been in over 75 cartoons with Mickey but has never starred in her own feature so the fact she now has her own ship that is bigger than Mickey’s is well deserved according to all the crew.
After the tour concluded we were just in time to see the Princess parade in the Atrium. Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Tiana and Belle all floated down the grand staircase and then pranced around signing autographs for the kids. We got a few pics, especially of “Cinders” with “Cinders”. It was now time to go and sign our DVC deeds so we made our way to the office. The whole process took about 20 minutes or so but by 3pm on Wednesday 1st Feb 2012 we were members of the family. Now wherever we go in DVC areas we are greeted with “Welcome Home”. Since the membership gets us some discounts on property (including Raglan Road the Irish Pub at Pleasure Island) we were told we could pick up our membership cards at Saratoga Springs when we disembarked so we could start enjoying our membership immediately.
We had missed one of the trivia quizzes but headed up to another one in the 687 lounge; so named as that was the hull number of our ship as she was built (it is bad luck to refer to a ship by name before it is completed). The quiz was about the Fantasy and as we had learned a lot on our tour and presentation we got quite a lot correct. We were late starting though so couldn’t win as we hadn’t answered all questions.
After a quick look at our Castaway Cay photos in Shutters we got a place on the atrium balcony to see the “See Ya Real soon” show. It turned out not to be a show, just Mickey and friends signing autographs. Since we still had about an hour before dinner we decided to complete the ‘Midship Detective Agency’ assignment. This is another really cool Disney feature. Each ‘detective’ (young or old and trust me there were several adults having more fun with this than the kids) has a key card that is registered to a screen with your detective number. You then need to seek out the enchanted artworks and solve clues. Enchanted artwork are interactive pictures (LCD screens in reality) but again really cleverly done as framed art. You hold your key card to the screen and your clue could be found in some way such as popping the on screen balloons by pointing your card at them, removing metal objects as your card became a magnet and brushing dust away to reveal stuff. All this was done by merely holding a piece of card about 18 inches from the screen – really neat! We solved our crime, that of the missing artwork and it turned out to be Ymza from the Emperor’s New Groove. The other really cool thing is that if you take another assignment you’ll get different clues for a different crime and criminal. We saw our tablemates on their 3rd assignment.
This took us nicely up to getting ready for dinner and we both felt that for a sea day it had absolutely flown by. Not only this but we could have done more and were both a little disappointed that we didn’t ride the Aquaduck but we’ve decided that it’s a reason that we have to come back.
Dinner was in the Royal Palace again and the menu was easily the best all cruise. Paul had 2 steaming bowls of Belle’s French Onion soup whilst I had some sliced duck and then the garlic escargot which were fab. Main course for me was the lamb and Paul had the Beef with Lobster although he didn’t realize it was a lobster medallion and so left it, much to the disgust of fellow diners and serving staff! Desert was an amazing Grand Marnier Soufflé with Crème Anglaise and Paul also had tasters of the others including a peanut butter chocolate mousse that was really nice. Like I said this was definitely the best meal. We gave our tips to our staff (not paying the prepaid full amount) and made our way to the theatre for the final show. The show was called Believe and was the story of a man who didn’t believe in magic but his daughter wanted him to. After finding the Genie he went on a journey with various characters to make him believe. There were plenty of Disney classics like Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Lion King, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast along the way so we sang and clapped to our faves. This was the best show of the cruise and we both loved it.
After the show we needed to get some packing done so went back to our room and stuffed it all in our cases, remembering to keep out the next day’s clothes and filling in our comment form. We did take a stroll up to the Outlook bar, the highest point on the ship, but it was closed so we headed down to deck. Paul grabbed a coke and I had a hot chocolate and we went back to bed.
Thursday was an early start; up at 7 for disembarkation. Paul went for breakfast in the dining room but I skipped that. We were all ready to get off by 8am and the atmosphere was very different to RC. There was no push to get out of the stateroom, no sitting around in lounges and no time to disembark. We headed up to mid ship and merely wandered off. No line, no fuss, just shook the Captain’s hand and got off. We have no idea why RC make such a meal of disembarkation and seemingly cause more trouble as a ‘free for all’ by Disney worked way better. We found our cases, had a short wait in line for customs and were in our car and on the road by 8:30am which was amazing (and unheard of with RC).
I’m gonna stop now and get this posted for ya (you’ve probably drowned in tea and put on half a stone from all the biscuits). I’ll complete the ‘back on land’ stuff in the next post.
Well here it is, my final posting of this trip. I don’t know about you folks but its gone well quick for us with this final week flying by.
We’re all checked in and bags dropped off at the Downtown Disney check-in service and now back at the villa for the final couple of hours tidying round (and saying our goodbyes to it :-(). We’ve packed all 3 cases (incl. the broken one) and each weighed in heavy but under our upper class allowance thankfully. Just hope now we don’t get stopped by UK customs as we have a lot of luggage – must be all those prezzies we’ve bought y’all 😉
So yesterday, we went out quite late after doing some work stuff (trying to get back into it :-() and headed to Wall Mart. We’ve not been to one this trip and needed to stock up on cheap pills! We went to the one up the 27 and got our pills, some Xmas cards and some cool Xmas signs for the house back home. After self serve check out we decided to go next door to Chili’s for lunch. Since this would be our food for the day we needed a decent meal to help us get around Disney at our pace! There was an offer on for 20 bucks to share a starter and get a main dish each so we opted for that starting with the tortilla chips and salsa dip (I’m sure these used to be brought to the table free before) followed by chicken fajita’s. The food was good and was just what we needed to fill us up.
We left Chili’s and made our way to the Stein Mart store. It was not what either of us expected. Full of old folks and old fashioned like a 1970’s C&A! It did have good brands at cheap prices though. It was not a huge store so we left fairly quickly and got on the road to Disney. Whilst Mickey’s very merry Christmas party officially starts at 7pm guests can get in as early as 4pm and we’d decided about 6pm was good for us. We’d looked at the sample plan in Chili’s and there was an offer to watch the fireworks from the Tomorrow Land terrace with a buffet included. It said go to the restaurant for reservations but we thought we’d call and see. We did so but it was all fully booked; still, something for us to try and get for next time.
It was a cold evening so as we parked at Disney (seemingly way back) we added all our layers. The courtesy tram to the ticketing and transportation centre was freezing and we hoped that the park with all its people would be warmer. We decided to get the monorail to the park entrance….Por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas.
There is also a ‘Tronorail’ running at the mo – a Tron painted monorail train but it was running on the other line.
We got into the park just before 6pm (timed to perfection by us as always). Since the Carousel of Progress is always closed during these evening special events but we were still officially in the daytime hours, we thought we’d go and see if it was running. It was and I was delighted. I adore this ride! It needs a little updating in places now but I merrily sang along as always.
After this we made our way to the TTA Peoplemover. The train ride that goes around Tomorrow Land and through shops and rides such as Buzz Lightyear’s Space Rangers and Space Mountain. Space Mountain was closed for re-furb this time last year but its now re-opened with jazzy music added. We saw the cars flying round in the dark and heard the screams of the riders.
After this we went over to Fantasy Land and stopped in one of the café’s for our complimentary cocoa and cookies. We needed a warm up after the train ride. As we went in there was a Mickey Mouse outline on the floor done in water – not just the round head and ears symbol either, a proper Mickey with detail. We reckon the cast members must have a stencil or something. When we finished our cocoa it had all but dried up.
We then went into Small World where the queuing system has changed and the exit is now the entry! And then to Philharmagic; Paul’s all time fave ride. We walked straight into a loading show with no wait at all. The smell of the cherry pie was good and this show still amazes new audiences as well as entertaining old hands like us over and over.
As we then walked through the Park we saw the 7 dwarfs at a photo spot and got a quick pic ourselves. We saw Hook and Smee later too.
Paul also loves the Haunted Mansion ride but ever since the guy touched me in the dark room at the start I’ve hated it and refused to ride. This time Paul persuaded me with a promise to protect me in the first room. I also had my lighy-up Tinkerbell on so had my own light source around me to help too. The complete darkness was not for long and my Tink certainly helped me see. The actual ride itself is really clever with some great special effects.
When we came out the parade so was in full swing so getting about the park is difficult. We found a quiet bridge where we could stand and watch (video posted for you to enjoy too). The park was fairly busy with what seemed like an inordinate amount of mobility scooters and pushchairs.
As the parade ended we made our way through the crowds over to Pirates of the Caribbean. Again there was no queue and we got straight on (despite folks struggling with the boarding system big time!) After we exited we figured we’d get one more Philharmagic show in before the 9:30pm fireworks so headed on over. We were in the waiting area at 5 to 9 as the cast member announced there was a technical fault. About half those waiting opted to leave but we said we’d give it 10 mins. Literally, within a couple of minutes the doors opened so we were ok. Paul always likes to do this show twice!
We exited at about 9:15 – perfect timing to go and get out spot for the fireworks.
As soon as the fireworks ended we left the park. We managed to get straight on a tram and into the monorail station without too many crowds. We had just missed a monorail train so waited a couple of mins for the next but got on ok….Por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas.
We were back in the car by 10pm. It was getting quite cold now but we’d been ok in the park; in and out of rides.
We did a bit of packing when we got in and emptied the owners’ closet (in case we get charged for disposal of items by the new owners). With all 3 cases we should have no problems getting stuff home.
Well, that’s about it…oh yeah, I forgot to post that we managed to get an old 1912 Penny in our change one day. It’s worth about $1.65 as it’s really battered but mint it could be worth 100’s! Either way, it’s nearly 100 years old and is rare because of some Titanic association that we can’t quite work out. We’ll deffo keep it as a collectors piece.
So, this really is it. We leave the villa in about an hour. Drop the car off and head for the lounge hoping for a smooth flight with no delays. In the words of Mickey himself…see ya real soon!
It’s Thursday lunchtime and it’s a cool one here (though nothing compared to good ole blighty right now). It’s our penultimate day and we don’t want to come home – we’ve had a great time. Today we are off for some lunch and then onto Stein Mart, a store that’s been advertised a lot on TV so we thought we’d check it out. We only want something quick and easy to do this afternoon as at about 6pm we are off to Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Christmas Party – yippppeeeeee!!
I think I left you at the end of Tuesday after a really tiring but fab day at Universal so you need to hear about yesterday. We were up and out by about 1pm and got to Altemonte quite quickly down I4 though the Altemonte area itself was heaving with traffic. The mall car park was pretty full too but we managed to park outside Dillards. We headed straight to the food court as we’d not had brekky. Paul opted for Mandarin Express, the chinese and I had a good old-fashioned big mac meal.
After this we made our way into Dillards on the upper floor, which was menswear. Nothing was on offer much anymore and we don’t pay full prices 😉 so we moved on. We did look at the suitcases in there as there was a sale on. The assistant told us that all were discounted so we looked at a $300 dollar spinner that was coming in at just $150. We thought about it and said we would come back.
This mall is quite small but we looked in the Apple store, a few shoe shops and got the remainder of our crimbo prezzies, which was the objective. I also got a really nifty limited edition Coach make up case with cosmetics included that was on offer at Estee Lauder.
We made our way around ending up back in Dillards. I looked at a DKNY watch but it was plastic and not real ceramic so I passed. We decided we would get the case so went and bought that. As it happens we’ve been emailed this morning that we have $175 form Virgin so at least it’s covered but it show there is no way we would have got the $300 Samsonite paid for. It’s appalling customer service.
We left Altemonte and decided to go to the Florida Mall as Paul needed to get a new pre-paid Visa card (he needs this to buy from US I-tunes). We started by looking in Saks and Nordstrom at the ceramic watches. In Nordstrom they had the perfect DKNY one that came in cheaper than some of the other brands so Paul bought it for me as my crimble prezzie. That means I can’t wear it yet as it has to go off to Santa 😉
Paul then got his credit card – after a good 15 minute wait as the folks in front were trying to get tickets via Ticketmaster and we all know rubbish they are. We then went to Starbucks and sat upstairs watching the world go by.
Paul still needed some work shirts. He’s been unable to find them discounted in Dillards so was wondering where to go. He looked at H&M and Old Navy but I had the bright idea of going to JC Penny. We made our way round and they had just what he needed. Long armed cotton work shirts at 20 bucks each – perfick! He got a few in white and blue and we looked at some other fab clothing items…you’ll see a particularly fetching white linen jacket below 🙂 This is Paul’s Miami Vice look and at just 60 bucks was a bargain don’t you think ?
We left the mall at about 7pm and wanted to go to the Polynesian resort hotel to see the Wishes fireworks as we had not done this all holiday. It was a chilly night and we’d not come prepared for this so were not sure if we’d freeze to death. I had ¾ sleeves and sandals on!! When we got out of the car it felt cold, especially when the wind blew. Then Paul had a bright idea – we’d wear his new work shirts. For him this was ok, he had a white shirt on with jeans that looked good but for me…can you imagine? I looked like some kind of mad scientist in an oversized lab coat!! Still, it actually did the trick as I wrapped up in it. We got a hot choc from the café to hold and sip and made our way out at 5 to 8. We got a beach bed to sit on and kept ourselves back in a secluded place so the wind didn’t really get to us. It was a clear night so the show was great and we could hear the accompanying music too.
Paul 'Don Johnson'
We came home after a quick stop at Wallgreens for some Hawaiian sweet rolls for tea!! We were not overly hungry so munched on these and crisps. We watched more Family Guy, including a special that Paul had downloaded, which was particularly funny (it was the Quantum Leap, parallel universe one) and then the Apprentice. We were both happy to see Laura leave and Lord Shugs made the right decision.
There you are then, all up to date again… only one more posting to go probably 🙁
It’s a late post today as we were up and out early to go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure today. We’ve just got in after dinner on the way home at Olive Garden. I had Lasagne and Paul had the Fettuccini Alfredo. We followed with mini desserts of tiramisu and choc mouse cake.
So back to yesterday and we were off to the movies. We decided to go to the cinema at Universal city walk rather than Downtown Disney as the timing suited us better but after getting there and realising we had to pay 15 bucks for parking Paul was not amused. He has requested that I slate Universal for this and tell all that cares to read not to bother with them if they can go elsewhere. For us we will certainly stick to Disney for the flicks in future, as the parking at Downtown is free. We rebelled in the car park by not parking in the next allotted spot but by driving round so as to be nearer the exit.
We paid $8 each for our seats and after getting the worlds biggest cherry coke – which scarily came with free refills but god only know who could drink that amount of soda – we made our way to our screen. We had the whole theatre to ourselves, not another soul came in. We sat in the middle and it was well chilly in there.
The film was really good. John Brennan trying to break his wife Lara Brennan out of jail as she is wrongly convicted of murder. It was quite long at just over 2 hours but definitely worth watching. I won’t tell you if they are successful or not so as not to spoil it for anyone who watches it.
We came out of the cinema about 5pm and had a wander around City Walk. Paul looked through all the books in Hart and Huntingdon looking for inspiration for his next ink but failed to find any so it looks like no new artwork this trip. The shop was really empty so business looked slow (prices are not cheap there so not surprising I guess), we also knew that our usual artist Rob Jarrett had moved back home and was no longer in Orlando anyway.
We also took a look in the Fossil shop and I tried on a ceramic watch. Paul dropped the watch stand and the assistant nearly had a heart attack thinking it was the ceramic watch. The prices were not that far off other brands such as Armani, DKNY and Juicy, all of which I’d rather have so I didn’t purchase.
We left Universal and went via I-Drive for a scenic route back to the 192 where we stopped at TGI’s for dinner. Paul had the Jack Daniels burger and I had the Jack Daniels chicken. The food and service were good. We came home and watched 2 hours of Family Guy. Very funny but we can’t believe it doesn’t get loads of complaints.
Today we were up and out by 11am after a row on the phone with Virgin who are refusing to give us anymore than $100 to replace the suitcase they broke. They’re insisting we provide the original receipt!!! After a couple of escalations Jemma in Crawley promised to email Paul by the end of the day. We checked when we got in and no email so another call and row seems to be in store for tomorrow!!
We’ve had more bad news too. The Pool heater company are adamant the heater is working. We turned it on this morning and it was showing 80 degrees. Today we got back and it showed 78 degrees. It’s been a scorching hot day (record breaking again!) so there is no way that heater can be working. We’re off in 3 days so there’s nothing we can do; it becomes the new owners problem and IPG’s if they get any guests in the coming months as temperature drops.
We started in Islands of Adventure. We had to go to Guest Services first as our passes were from 2001 and had to be converted to new bar coded passes. We had 3 and the guy confirmed they each had 1 day’s hopper left.
We started by riding Poseidon’s Fury. Rides all seemed to have small queues and we waited about 5 mins before entering this one. It is more a show than a ride as you move through rooms and see the battle between Poseidon and his nemesis. It culminates as the room opens up to become Poseidon’s temple and there is projection onto water spays. Not a bad show really.
After this we caught the end of the Sinbad stunt show before we headed into the all-new Harry Potter land – it looked really good, the train, the shops and Hogwarts castle. There are a few pics below for you. As we went in we decided to try the Butterbeer. Apparently, when asked JK Rowling said she had made it up so there was no real recipe. People have made up there own alcoholic and non alcoholic versions and the Universal Studios one comes as a no alcoholic frozen version too with a caramel cream topping. It was nice though a little sickly as the cream mixed in.
We wandered up through the village past the shops and the restaurant with its very typical English menu to Hogwarts. The castle has a walk through and a ride but it’s a severe coaster so we gave it a miss. Instead we went on the Phoenix roller coaster, which used to be the Unicorn (Chris – Paul managed to get you to actually ride this once remember – though its probably a memory you’re trying to suppress!!). The area has incorporated this and the duelling dragons ride (now called Dragon challenge) really well.
We left Harry’s land and went past the Jurassic park ride. We said hi to Lexy (Lexy Rexy the T-Rex) and I managed to get a really nice Amber pig in the store. Another for my collection. We still couldn’t ride the Pterandon Flyers as you have to have a child under a certain height to ride with each adult.
It was about 1pm so we decided to stop for a spot of lunch – burgers and fries. We then carried on though the park through the toon lagoon area with all the water riders. We used all our quarters on the water blaster machines where you can squirt water at the riders as they exit the ride. Just as they think its over and they are drying off we blast them with more cold water – such fun if in a slightly evil way. Millsy; I reckon you’d love this past time.
I had some banana split Dippin’ Dots as we sat for a while to rest our feet. We momentarily contemplated the water rapids ride but neither of us particularly wanted to walk round soaked so we gave it a miss and decided to move onto the other park – it was about 4pm by now.
There is a new rollercoaster here called the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. This seems to be based on something musical but we’re not sure what!
We wandered past Twister, Shrek 4D and the Mummy Returns before heading into Disaster with Christopher Walken who plays an over the top movie director called Frank Kincaid. It’s really clever the way he is projected onto the stage and interacts with the actual cast members. Audience members are selected to star in various scenes (this is the old Earthquake where Chris had a starring role once – none of today’s were anywhere near as good as you ;-)) and are filmed in front of green screens. The final bit is still the old tram ride and it’s on the way back from this that they play the pieced together scenes in a film trailer. It’s not a bad ride this one.
We then went straight to Jaws and walked on with no queue whatsoever (the park was really quiet at this time which was great). The fire and steam effects in Jaws were way too hot given the weather though we do remember the time we used that ride to warm up on a freezing cold day a few years back. The ride’s the same as ever with the cast member boat driver hamming it up as ever.
We then went into the 5pm Animal Actors show. It was almost empty so we got front row seats. I do like the animals. The cat that opens the show by putting the sign up needed 3 attempts; bless it! Other animals featured were the Men in Black Pug, loads of dogs responding to verbal and visual commands, the usual cockatoo, pigeons a feature on a parrot flying in front of a fan so it pretty much hovered in front of a blue screen which is apparently how they get birds in flight on the right background in movies and of course the star of the show as always was the Orang-o-tang. There was also a great pig that kept popping in with various signs on its back for the audience’s amusement. The pig was of course my fave.
After the show we made our way around the park to go onto ET. Again there was no queue so after getting our passports (the bar codes that register your name) and a quick meander through the forest queuing area we got onto our bikes (no peddling of course!) We heard ET say goodbye at the end and our names were loud and clear.
By now it had to be after 6pm but it was still really warm and still light. We walked past the restaurants to Terminator 2 – 3D but found it closed. Paul was a bit gutted as he really likes that show. With things clearly closing and our feet and legs pretty aching we decided to call it a day. We’d done over 6 hours – less than we used to be able to so clearly a sign of our age is definitely catching up with us. I think Paul is finally starting to realise how his marching his family around at our younger pace was a bit if a killer for them!
Tomorrow we are going to go to the Mall at Altemonte. A final shopping day to try and finish all the Crimbo prezzies so we don’t have to fret when we are back home. Though talking of home we may struggle to make it smoothly. The bad weather over there is set to continue for a few days which will play havoc with UK airports and may well delay our return…although if it’s only sat around in an airport we’d rather get home.
Yep, it’s the 3rd Thursday in November which for US citizens means turkey and trimmings at home with the family. It also means that tomorrow is black Friday…..THE best shopping day of the year. Some stores are advertising opening times of 4am this year – that’s just ridiculous. We won’t be there at that time and we certainly won’t be queuing all night, whatever the bargains. We will try to get up early though and head in for around 8am. We’ve found before that this is a good time as it’s after the real early birds and before the normal morning shoppers. So today we will chill out – it’s really hot out here by the pool again and maybe take a ride out to Daytona later. Bad news though folks – the pool heater is not working so no swimming 🙁
Anyway, back to yesterday. We left the villa at 11:15 as we had to be at the Forever Florida ranch for 1pm. The sat nav had indicated about an hour’s journey so we allowed contingency, which turned out to be just well as we got there at 20 to 1! It was 42 miles down the 192 then 7 miles along the 441 so a dead easy route.
We arrived and ‘checked in’ and only had a 10 min wait or so before our tour started. It began with a 30 min slide show (clearly not updated since the early 1990’s) about the family who owned the ranch. The first 15 mins were dedicated to their son Allen who had died in his late 20’s and the final 15 mins about how the project was about conservation and our eco system. It was a tad self indulgent on their part and could definitely use a re-vamp.
After this we made our way onto our truck for our Florida eco safari. We were seated at the very front – seats are high up on the back of a flat bed truck. We set off and the warm breeze felt like it would definitely burn my arms – oh well! As we went along the side of a swamp we saw loads of alligators. Some pretty small and some even babies. We saw 2 lots of babies and each time there was a big gator nearby. This had to be mum as gators do protect their young and if it were dad then the babies would be no more as males eat their own young! There’s a pic of one of the mums below. We also saw a few turtles in the water and one on the bank.
Alligator
We learned that the sex of an alligator is determined by the heat of the nest. Over 92 degrees and they will be male, less than 86 degrees and they will be female. Somewhere between the 2 and you will get a mixed litter! A female will lay around 60 eggs but only about 12 will ever make it to adulthood.
After the swamp we were into more open land. The slide show had taught us how the land has to be burned in different seasons to allow the eco system to flourish. It thins back the plants that grow too strong and allows the sun to hit the land and let new plants grow. We saw areas that had been burned in May and the re-growth was amazing. We learned that if animals get stuck during a burn they would concentrate only on survival so a snake will not eat a rabbit if trapped together. When they escape they each go their separate ways (never to speak of the incident again!)
We saw lots of birds: kestrels, buzzards and a woodpecker. We also learned that Spanish moss that hangs on the trees is not good. It will harm the tree by taking the light and nutrients. It is also filled with mites and yet apparently the first model T Ford had it used as stuffing in the seats – YUK!
We also saw a few deer bounding around but sadly never got to see the rare Florida Panther. Apparently, only a few have spotted it. It is orangey brown in colour and not black like most believe all panthers are. A black big cat we were told is a mutated leopard with merged spots!!
The ranch also catches and pens Hogs. Apparently these are bad as they destroy the land; 2 hogs can destroy 1 acre of land in just 1 night. We saw where this had happened and it was a hollow with nothing growing. The hogs dig for bloodroot (a food source akin with chocolate to me) with their tusks and the bacteria and acid from them is what ruins the land and prevents any re-growth of foliage.
We got off the truck at one point for a walk around a boardwalk (an area where Allen (pay attention from earlier) loved to visit). As we walked across Paul spotted the mother of all spider’s webs – I did NOT want to meet it’s owner and could only imagine the size of what had spun something that size. It made me shudder. After a few mins Paul then thought something had dropped on his head. At that point I decided nature was not for me and much prefer the Florida mall 🙂
We boarded the truck after about 10 mins and headed back to the ranch. The trip had been about an hour and a half and definitely worth it. The air is about the freshest in Florida in were told due to the open ecological land so we felt it had done us the world of good too.
So, as you can see (well, read) I paid attention and took a lot in for you all to enjoy 😉
After the safari we took a brief moment to feed the fat pony at the petting zoo. Thankfully a sink was provided, as he was a messy eater!
We left Forever Florida at about half 3 and headed home. We came home a different route following the sat nav but it took no less time. We got home about 4:45 after a quick stop for gas.
We were both starving as we had only had breakfast so decided we would head out for dinner early and go to Longhorn. Before we went Paul wanted to download The Apprentice for us to watch when we got back. We called ahead to Longhorn but were told there was no wait so when we arrived we were seated straight away. We had timed it well though as within minutes there were queues of people and the place was full. We both had the 7oz fillet and Paul explained meticulously how he wanted it cooked. Michael, our waiter, was keen to get it right and apparently had 2 Managers go and cook it! Paul gave it the thumbs up to everyone’s relief 🙂
The food there is always good and we really enjoyed it (clearing our plates) and we washed it down with root beer.
When we got home Apprentice had downloaded so we settled in with a brew. We both want to kill Stuart and felt the losing team were way better than both him and Laura (who is a whingy selfish mare) – those 2 HAVE to go soon.
That’s about it then…enjoy your Thanks Giving and be back here the same time tomorrow 😉
I write this on Tuesday evening as tomorrow we are off to Forever Florida and have to be there for the 1pm trail so I may not have enough time in the morning since it’s a good hours drive away. It’s 9pm and the kettle is on! We’ve just got back from dinner at Applebees. We were both tired and not overly hungry so it was the easy choice. I had chicken Caesar salad and Paul had French onion soup followed by a spicy prawn wrap. We’ve been there twice now but still not met the dog that can drive 🙂 Oh yeah, the other disappointment is that Delilah is not on Magic 107.7 anymore :-(. We checked her website which still lists this channel as playing her but it was deffo not on.
We left the villa at midday again and drove to boardwalk. We park here as it is free as opposed to the 15 bucks charged at the Swan and Dolphin. Plus we get to look around boardwalk and get the boat over which is all part of the fun. There was a boat just loading as we got there so we jumped straight on and round to the Swan and Dolphin hotel. It was absolutely scorching as we wandered around the beach to the Cabana restaurant. In fact, it has been on the news that it is record breakingly hot for this time of year.
Lunch was good; I had chicken BLT and Paul had the beef hotdog. Afterwards we got the boat back to Boardwalk and in a quick stop in the Disney store I picked up a nifty tinkerbell iphone case. When we got back to the car we need to change into jeans ready for the cold temperatures of ICE, there was no one around so we did a quick change and drove to the Gaylord Palms where was had to pay 12 bucks to park – what a rip off!!!
We went into the ICE exhibition entrance to get our Parka’s which took several attempts as I clearly look huge having been given a large to start with and Paul clearly looks skinny having to size up 3 times!! The exhibits were different to last time we went – more colourful and if I’m honest not as impressive. We took pics though so check them out below. It was sure cold in there too! We went through really quick and came out at 10 past 3. I know this as the Snow exhibition was letting groups in every hour on the hour so this could not have been worse timing. Mind you we sat outside for a while so got some more of the good weather.
Snow was very disappointing. It was a few fairground games, like hoop the bottle, knock off the bottles with a ball etc etc. In each game with a ball we used snowballs. The games were very easy; designed to be won most times by anyone (unlike the fairground). Winning got you a raffle ticket. We won about half a dozen or so on various games and were told that at the end of the 45 min session there was a raffle but after 20 mins we’d had enough so left. We were very good and donated our tickets to a small child (though if I had spotted that child later with one of the big stuffed polar bears on offer in the raffle I would have snatched it back :-)). There was also a snowball fighting area in there (full of noisy kids) and a small ice hill where kids could get in a rubber ring and slide down. It was all very children orientated hence our sharp exit!
Our entry price entitled us to a free hot cocoa so we made our way to the atrium for this. There was a show about to start, well I say show, it was 4 very pitchy singers singing old-fashioned Christmas songs. We watched for a short while and then decided to do the “hunt the polar bear”. There were 10 hidden polar bears (12” stuffed ones I hasten to add – there’s a couple of pics of these included) around the atrium area that we had clues to find. They were fairly easy and we found all 10 in about 30 mins or so.
We’d pretty much done all there was to do so left and came home. It was about 6pm so we chilled for an hour so before heading to Applebees. And so you’re all up to date for now. Like I said tomorrow we are off to Forever Florida which is a trail through the top area of the Everglades where we should see some wildlife.
Night y’all!
Ooh, almost forgot to say. The Pool maintenance man has been and fixed the pool heater so tomorrow we may get to swim…….watch this space.
It’s another great day – really hot out here by the pool (are you all very jealous?)
Today we are going to have lunch at the Swan and Dolphin then head over to the ICE exhibition at the Gaylord Palms later. But first what happened at Disney yesterday I hear you ask.
We left the villa about midday and drove to Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM for those still struggling with change). It was really hot as we went into the Park but also really busy. We headed down Hollywood Blvd through the shops towards the sorcerers hat and the Little Mermaid ride. Sadly, the standby entrance for Mermaid was full for the 1:20 show so we had to leave it. Instead we headed to the great movie ride. Being busy they had both carts running so with a little barrier hopping we got ourselves into the queue for the first cart. Why did we do this? Because for years they’ve run only 1 cart and it goes through the Gangster interactive routine but those seasoned Great movie riders amongst you will recall that there is also a Cowboy interactive routine. Since we had not experienced this in years we wanted to! We got seats at the very front of the cart, although the Cowboy does not pick on the riders the way the Gangster does. There are no changes to the ride. We spotted the hidden Mickey and enjoyed the ride as ever.
After this we decided to go through “One Man’s Dream”; a kind of exhibition telling the story of Walt and the theme parks. It has recently been re-furb’d and has many very old and valuable artefacts like original cartoon cameras to show perspective and many old toys and models. There are models of most of the theme park castles that were to scale and used by the Imagineers and builders to create the real thing. There is a short movie in this attraction but we didn’t watch it.
We still did not mange to ride Toy Story Mania as the standby wait time was 120 minutes. This attraction is about 18 months old now yet still pulls in the crowds and we are still yet to experience it. Instead we headed on over to the Backlot Tour (an old fave). We were right at the front of the entrance when they closed the previous tour so we had a little wait time but were then at the front. We reminisced about the time when Paul starred in the Pearl Harbour scene and I stitched him up the with engine room part where he got dumped on by 1000 gallons of water. I don’t think we ever posted those pics – but they were fab. We got good seats on the tram for catastrophe canyon and the props boneyard etc (there are some pics posted of this as well as various others including me in silly hats and one for you Mark – I almost bought you a T shirt but at Disney prices you just get a pic).
We then looked in the Christmas shop and even had to give the Muppets 3D a miss as it had a long wait. So before going over to Epcot we had one final thing to do – The American Idol Experience. We made our way to the holding area where the pre-amble was taking place (some guy chivvying up the crowd and a cameraman filming). We eventually went in and managed to get good seats in the centre of the row and with small folks in front so had a very clear view of the stage. The 3 contestants were Jamie (a youth Pastor), Lauren (a newly wed) and Daniel (a 17 year old who looked about 25!!!). The first 2 were OK but Daniel stole the show. A standing ovation from about half the audience and even the Simon Cowell-a-like judge had to say good things. The guy was pretty awesome and stands a real chance of getting into next seasons Idol. Of course there is no Simon Cowell as a judge next season as he is set to launch X-Factor in the US.
We came out of Idol at about 4:30 and left the park straight away. We really wanted to stay and see the Osborne family spectacle of lights but having only 3 days left on our passes we need to hop and make the most of them so, after a pit stop at McD’s for some scran (we really do need to start eating better this trip) we went into Epcot. By this time it was starting to get dark and we headed straight onto Spaceship Earth. There was even a queue for this but it moved quickly and we were on in minutes. We are not as keen on Dame Judy as we were Jeremy Irons (narration for non Disney fan readers) but the interactive video building bit at the end is definitely a good addition. Paul had the idea to select Japanese as our language so that our answers would be truly random and we would get a different video (as we seem to end up with the same ones) but in the end we opted for English. The vid is posted here on the blog for your entertainment!
When we got off Spaceship Earth we went over to the one thing we HAD to do at Epcot – Captain EO! After 15 years it is back. MJ at his best in glorious 3D. I for one was gutted when this ride got replaced by ‘Honey I Shrunk the Audience’ so had to visit. No one knows how long Disney will keep it this time around. It had not been digitally remastered but they had added the hydraulic seat movement and other “4D” effects such as air blasting from vents, which definitely made it better. I’m not sure all of the audience appreciated it as some were laughing (loudly I might add) at the 80’s fashion and styling. Paul and I though, loved it. Captain EO is king!
Being after 7pm by now a few rides were sadly shut, like the Land and Ellen’s Universe of Energy. Soarin’ had its usual long wait but the Sea’s was open so we wandered past the animated seagulls and rode Nemo. Not much to say about this ride. It’s designed for kids but is very well put together. Very impressive is the way the Nemo characters are projected into a real aquarium as other real fish and dolphins swim around.
We came out and wanted to watch the fireworks but it was 8pm and they were not until 9 and we were both pretty shattered so decided to leave it. We exited the park and came straight home. After watching some TV (Family Guy – v funny) we went to bed about 10pm. Still not managing to stay up very late – we need to change that ahead of our all nighter to go and see the Shuttle launch!
Well, I must go and get ready now, need to pack warm clothes for the ICE exhibition.
